Christmas Gingerbread Cupcakes

by peasepudding on December 20, 2010

It’s the Sunday before Christmas and I have just realised that I haven’t done any Christmas baking yet, having been in Sydney for work last week the time seems to have crept up on me. I have a long list of things I planned to make; Stollen, Panforte, mince pies, nougat….arrghh, so it looks like I have my work cut out for me over the next few days and that’s not taking into consideration the savoury dishes for a dinner party on the 24th with friends, Christmas lunch on the 25th with family and picnic lunch Boxing day at the races. That’s what Christmas is about though isn’t it, time with friends and family sharing great food together so it will all be worth the effort?

So when I had a cupcake class on Sunday I thought the least I could do was decorate them with a Christmas theme and because I haven’t made gingerbread either yet I made gingerbread cupcakes instead. They are made with ginger powder and crystalised ginger in the sponge with a gingerbread crumb on top.

Christmas Gingerbread Cupcakes

Ingredients

125g butter

125g sugar

150g SR flour

2 eggs

50-70g crystalised ginger, finely sliced

2 tsp ginger powder

6 gingerbread biscuits, crumbled (optional)

Method

Place 12 cup cake cases into a muffin tray, this helps hold the shape of the cup cake.

Put butter & sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric whisk or good old fashioned wooded spoon until light and fluffy.

Add one egg at a time and whisk in between both additions.

Sift flour into mixture and fold gently through with a metal spoon so not to loose all the air that has been beaten in.

Spoon mixture into cases a little more than 2/3 full.

Bake in oven for 25 minutes until golden and risen.

Allow to cool slightly before removing from muffin tin.

Ingredients – cream cheese topping

3 tbsp icing sugar

250g Cream cheese, softened

1 tsp ginger powder

Method

Beat all ingredients together to a smooth consistency.

Fill piping bag and the fun starts!

Pipe swirls onto the top of cooled cupcakes.

Add a few gingerbread crumbs to decorate the top of the cupcakes. My holly and gingerbread man are made from fondant icing.